Bull Moose is an independent retailer and record store chain based in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, USA. The chain has operated since 1989 and has eight locations in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and three in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

History

Bull Moose was founded by Brett Wickard in

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. Brunswick is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part o ...

, in 1989, though he did not file it as a

Business Corporation Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and Behavior, conduct of Legal person, persons, Company, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal prac ...

until 1995. Bull Moose was started with $37,000. Chris Brown was hired in 1991 as a clerk and later became the creator of

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

, and the company's Vice President. They were covered by Bloomberg for using predictive algorithms to drive media sales. On January 4, 2022, it was announced that Bull Moose would be sold to its 140 employees. Founder Brett Wickard will stay on as interim CEO and chair of the board during the transition. In January 2022, Bull Moose became 100% employee-owned and created an employee stock ownership plan for its over 170 employees across 11 stores. In May 2022, Bull Moose named Shawn Nichols as its new President and CEO, with Wickard remaining on as Chairman. In December 2022 it was announced that the Bull Moose Sanford location would be closing and that a new location would be opened in

Biddeford, Maine Biddeford ( ) is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddef ...

. The new store is scheduled to open in early 2023. Bull Moose had previously occupied the Sanford location for 25 years.

Record Store Day

In 2007, when Brown was head of Bull Moose marketing, an email chain with Michael Kurtz, head of the Department of Record Stores, sparked the idea for

. Each year the co-founders at the Department of Record Stores collaborate with multiple artists for exclusive releases made especially for Record Store Day. The releases for 2017 included works from

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305 ...

, and more. The Department of Record Stores keeps a list of participating independent record stores.

LEGO Fire Walk

The Bull Moose

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account posted an image of a LEGO Fire Walk they created at the South Portland, ME based store to promote sales of

The LEGO Movie ''The Lego Movie'' is a 2014 animated adventure comedy film written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Based on the Lego line of construction toys, the film stars the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will ...

on June 19, 2014. It was shared by famous

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

actor

George Takei George Takei ( ; born April20, 1937), born , is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS ''Enterprise'' in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. Takei was born to Japanese-American parents, with w ...

, and subsequently went viral. It was also covered by local news.

Music events

Bull Moose is locally known for their in-store music events with musicians like The Decemberists, Mumford and Sons, and Wilco. Bull Moose has hosted the following artists:

References

{{reflist Music retailers of the United States Companies based in Portland, Maine Companies based in New Hampshire 1989 establishments in Maine Retail companies established in 1989 Independent stores Music industry